Christmas Break

We have enjoyed our few weeks off of our normal routine of school, etc. Taylor is looking forward to starting school and Tennis this week. She is going to start a 6 week Tennis camp I guess you would call it. Eric and I have gotten into Tennis this past year, and subsequently she has started liking it also. We love to go to Fritz Burns Park in La Quinta on Monday nights for FHE and play tennis as a family. Soccer season is now over and it's nice for her to have something to look forward to. And a little exercise is always good.
Brent is talking more and more everyday. It's so fun to see his vocabulary increase so quickly. He loves to announce when someone walks into the room and joins the group. He's say, "Tays Home!" or "Daddy's home". It's so cute that he confuses the 'home' with actually 'here' but it's the same concept, right. He is just my snuggle bug. He loves to give numerous hugs during the day. He has a hard time when Taylor goes to school. He wears a backpack when we walk her into school. I think he's hoping I'll let him stay someday. So he plays with all the other kids on the playground, he climbs the stairs runs across the bridge, under the clubhouse and down the slide. There are like 7 kids on his heels doing the same thing. They all squeal and laugh, they just love him. And Taylor doesn't seem to mind sharing the attention (surprisingly). I think she's proud that he's her brother.
Taylor is learning to read and doing such a great job. She is just taking off with her sounding out of words and memorizing her sight words and numbers. She is reading Dick and Jane-like books and loving her new found skill. I'll be reading to her at night and she will point out the words on the page that she knows and she's so proud of herself.
I have to mention the cute thing she said on Christmas Eve when I was laying down with her to help her fall asleep. She turned to me and said, "Mom, these darn Sugar Plums keep dancing in my head, and Mom, I don't even know what Sugar Plums are!" It was so funny. I guess we read the Night before Christmas one too many times.

Some commentary on the pictures: We got a croquet set from Sarah and Chad for Christmas that we LOVE. Brent and Taylor have had so much fun, and so far, no broken windows. Taylor did break a mallet by throwing it on the ground because she was mad she missed a wicket ( for those of you unfamiliar with croquet jargon, that is the tunnel shaped wire the balls go through). I think we might need a little Anger management at our house.
We also enjoyed visiting with my sister Sarah and her daughter Audrey over break, so this is a picture of the cousins. ;)
What do you think? Does Brent need a hair cut or what?